Han Solo’s Cameo
Luke’s appearance as a Force ghost was excellent, but it’d long been officially confirmed that Mark Hamill was returning for Rise. A secret that was kept close, though, was Harrison Ford turning up in a cameo as Han Solo for the first time since The Force Awakens.
After Ren makes the first steps towards redemption (more on that in a moment), he’s visited by a vision of his late father. In an inversion of their last meeting in TFA, when Kylo killed Han, he tells his father that he knows what he has to do but doesn’t know if he has the strength to do it, and asks for his help. He then throws his lightsaber away, symbolizing the rebirth of Ben Solo.
Sure, so it’s not incredibly shocking that they got Ford back, given his stature in the franchise, but this was still a surprising and highly effective way to do it. I mean, it’s unclear exactly what’s going on here – is this all happening in Kylo’s head? Is it connected to the Force? – but it hits the emotional beats all the same.